Category Archives: Acquisition

By Mr. Peter Nesby The product director for Defense Wide Transmission Systems (PD DWTS) is using interactive multimedia instruction (IMI) to enhance sustainment training for key battlefield communication systems. IMI employs computer-based technology integrating a host of components, including text, graphics, animation, sound and video. IMI training applications can take many forms, including tutorials, simulations, virtual reality and expert systems, as well as “just-in-time” training embedded in performance support systems. PD DWTS, assigned to the Program Executive Office for Enterprise Information Systems, recently launched a training support package using distributed learning to support new equipment training and unit sustainment training for the Combat Service Support (CSS) Automated Information Systems Interface […]

By Michael Mcgarvey, Deputy Product Manager, Wideband Enterprise Satellite Systems From the foxhole to the Oval Office, effective communications are critical to the execution of countless DOD operations across the globe and around the clock. Comprising orbiting satellites and the earth terminals from and to which they relay data, satellite communications, or SATCOM, systems are perhaps the most strategic communications tools available to DOD, including its commander in chief. At a recent ribbon-cutting ceremony to mark initial operational capability (IOC) of the latest generation of DOD SATCOM terminals, Brig. Gen.(P) John B. Morrison, commander of the Network Enterprise Technology Command (NETCOM), said, “This terminal is designed to be there when […]

Army Acquisition Corps coalesces around dedication, professionalism By Hon. Heidi Shyu, Army Acquisition Executive “We know that the quality of our people is an essential ingredient to our success as an acquisition enterprise.”—Former Deputy Secretary of Defense Dr. Ashton B. Carter The Army Acquisition mission is to provide our Soldiers a decisive advantage by developing, acquiring, fielding and sustaining the best-equipped Army the world has ever known. Accomplishing that feat requires a dedicated workforce of career civilians and military professionals. This year, we celebrate 25 years of acquisition excellence, marking the creation in 1989 of the Army Acquisition Corps (AAC), the civilian and military specialists who develop and procure […]

Suite of trainers for towed artillery systems blends realism, modularity By Maj. Daniel Cowling and Mr. Joshua Zawislak Engineers from the U.S. Army Armament Research, Development and Engineering Center (ARDEC) and the Army’s project manager for towed artillery systems (PM TAS) have been collaborating on an innovative training package that will take an avatar-based gaming approach to training for the M777A2 and M119A3 towed howitzers. The current overseas conflict has required Soldiers and Marines to deploy for extended periods in nonstandard missions, without their howitzers and performing jobs outside their normal military occupational specialties (MOSs). While this flexibility has been essential to managing a complex conflict, often it has […]

By Amy Walker, PEO C3T As the Army continues to upgrade WIN-T Increment 1, the tactical communications network backbone that first began supporting forces in Iraq and Afghanistan, it is also transitioning its sustainment strategy for the equipment from worldwide contracted support centers to standard organic support back in the U.S. According to Caroline McCarthy, Readiness Management Division chief for Product Manager (PdM) WIN-T Inc 1, sustainment efforts will enable Soldiers to order repair and spare parts for WIN-T Increment 1 from the Standard Army Retail Supply System (SARSS) instead of relying on contractor operated Regional Support Centers (RSCs). “We are also for the first time teaming with Tobyhanna Army […]

Tactical Network training before more holistic and more versatile with every capability set fielding By Maj. Jonathan Swan, Capt. Keith Jordan and Mr. Larry Spence When fielding complex new equipment to a unit, there’s only one chance to get it right. If the training is off—in content, timing or audience—the unit can end up worse than it was without the new gear. To get the most out of the Army’s advanced communications network, Soldiers need to understand how to fully employ their systems to satisfy their mission requirements, and how to maximize system capability as part of a holistic network that spans the entire force. As the Army fields its […]

Video game-like approach reduces classroom time, increases engagement By Maj. Naim R. Lee, Ms. Caroline McCarthy and Dr. Samuel Johnson Today’s Soldiers have grown up in the digital age. They play video games that enable friends and even strangers to team up online to slay aliens, combat terrorists and save the world. They take advanced high school and college classes online, and their smartphones are almost an appendage. “Death by PowerPoint” is no longer an effective means of training, especially on the Army’s advanced network and communications equipment. Soldiers are now learning faster and more efficiently, immersed in operational scenarios within virtual training environments and using the power of their […]

By Claire Heininger, PEO C3T ABERDEEN PROVING GROUND, Md. (July 15, 2014) — The Army is creating a standard marketplace of tactical communications hardware to support the Common Operating Environment (COE) initiative and deliver a familiar and intuitive experience for Soldiers. The Common Hardware Systems (CHS) program office maintains a portfolio of commercial technologies that satisfy tactical requirements including servers, clients, network routing and switching devices, ruggedized laptops, handheld devices, operational transit cases and other peripheral devices. As the Army advances the COE framework to support the rapid development and delivery of secure, interoperable software applications, CHS is coordinating with multiple programs to facilitate efficient procurement and sustainment of […]

By Claire Heininger, PEO C3T ABDERDEEN PROVING GROUND, Md. (June 24, 2014) — The SNE is getting a mission makeover. The Soldier Network Extension (SNE), which delivers the Army’s mobile tactical network backbone to the company level, is evolving from a vehicle used by the company commander to an information hotspot allowing other Soldiers to plug in, make phone calls and send and receive data from anywhere on the battlefield — from an Afghan polling place to an air assault observation point. The changes, based on user feedback from Capability Set (CS) 13 fielded units and the Army’s Network Integration Evaluation (NIE) events, are also making the SNE more […]

Future network must make it easier for Soldiers to train, plan, operate from garrison to foxhole By Brig. Gen. Daniel P. Hughes and Ms. Jennifer Zbozny When you think “modernization,” the next word that comes to mind probably isn’t “simplify.” Progress often implies more systems, with greater complexity—saturating Soldiers with technology and then surging the underlying infrastructure necessary to support everything from power to training. But does it have to? As we plan the Army’s future tactical communications network—a top modernization priority as the Army transitions to a smaller but still highly capable force—we have a different vision. Picture a landscape in which Soldiers can start up a wireless command […]

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